Otto's blog

Mini Teaset Rack

9月

21日

I bought this minature teaset for my daughter last Christmas, but she didn`t have a good place to keep the pieces, so last weekend I made this rack for her. When I gave it to her, she was so happy (which was a nice change; when I give handmade gifts to my wife, she often looks unhappy...).

Grammar:
- buy/make/cook 何か for 誰か
- give/send/take 何か to 誰か

#アート #趣味

Okinawan Orchid

8月

7日

I haven`t done a woodblock print for a while. In fact, it`s been ages since I did any framable art. This is a 16 x 9cm print of an orchid, based on one I saw in Okinawa.

Grammar:
There are a few ways to say 久しぶり in English:
- I haven`t 過去分詞形 in/for ages/a long time/a while
- It`s been ages/a long time/a while since I (last) 過去形
- It/this is the first time in ages I`ve 過去分詞形

#アート

A Spot of Gifu Sightseeing

5月

11日

During Golden Week, I did a spot* of sightseeing (観光) in Gifu. I rode my bicycle from Ichinomiya to Gifu, parked it at the bottom of Mount Kinka, then hiked to the top. There is a nice spot** on the roof of a restaurant there which has a great view. Although the weather was warm, I spotted*** this mountain in the distance which still a spot of* snow on it. After taking this photo (& eating ice-cream!), I hiked back down the mountain, walked in Gifu Park, then popped into the Eizo & Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum - a nice, quiet spot** to relax & recover after my exercise.

Vocabulary:
- 'Spot' has various meanings, e.g. * a small amount ** place, location *** see, notice, find

#アウトドア #アート #旅行

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

12月

16日

Instructions:

Step 1: Go to a pine (松) forest.
Step 2: Get (命令する) kids to collect pine cones
Step 3: Cut out a cardboard (ダンボール) ring
Step 4: Attach pine cones to ring with wire
Step 5: Attach baby Jesus (doll) in a manger (飼い葉桶)
Step 6: Get (命令する) kids to brush pine cones with white paint
Step 7: Get angry
Step 8: Clean white paint from baby Jesus` face
Step 9: Attach tinsel bow, red berries & flower buds
Step 10: Hang wreath over front door
Step 11: Hope mother-in-law doesn`t notice red berries & flower buds are from her garden.

Grammar:
- Get/Have + 誰か + 動詞 = 誰かに + 動詞 + ように命令する

#アート #芸術

Money Box

8月

27日

Sometimes I help my son with his homework. This summer I helped him make this money box for his summer holidays homework. I collected most of the parts (except for the screws, ネジ以外) from the beach.

You insert a coin at the top & it rolls down to the bottom.

Grammar:
- help + 誰か + 動詞 or help + 誰か + to 動詞 (both okay)
- help + 誰か + with 名詞

#アート #趣味

Why Did the Teacher Cross the Road?

4月

26日

Across from Gifu Teragoya is the Gifu City Culture Centre. I noticed these paintings in their street-side display windows, so I crossed the road to take a closer look. Actually, they look better from a distance (遠いから), so this is a photo from my classroom across the road.

The top two paintings remind me of a print by Kyokichi Tanaka.

Vocabulary:
- Be careful: `across` & `cross` are different: across = 向い cross = 渡る

#アート

Ununique

2月

16日

At the 2016 Nitten exhibition, I saw the painting on the left. Do you understand the joke? Originally, the monkeys represent "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil."

It`s a good idea, but not an original one. If you go to Naiki, near Ise Shrine (伊勢神宮), you can see the three monkeys in the photo on a shop`s roof ( 屋根). Please look for them next time you visit Naiki!

Vocabulary:
- originally (副詞) = 元々
- original (形容詞 ) = 独自

#アート #文化 #芸術

2016 Nitten Art Exhibition

2月

13日

Last Sunday I went to the Nitten exhibition of Japanese art in Nagoya. Afterwards, I bought a few postcards. It was hard to choose [チューズ]- there were lots of nice ones.

The exhibition is at The Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Sakae, which is easy to get to by subway. However, if you want to go, please hurry - tomorrow is the last day!

Grammar:
- "easy to ___ (動詞)" = ___ やすい
- "hard/difficult to ____" = ____ 難い

#アート #文化 #芸術

Merry Christmas

12月

25日

Merry Christmas, everybody! It`s a busy time in Japan - people are busy attending end-of-year parties (忘年会), buying presents, preparing new year`s cards (年賀状), or busy working, like me! But I hope you`re not too busy to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, & think about his message.

I`ve been too busy to do my blog recently, but I will try to post more often in future.

This is a painting of Jesus` birth by Gauguin - `Nativity` (1896). In this painting, Jesus, Mary, the midwife (?) & the angel are Tahitian. Interesting!

Grammar:
- "busy + __ing" = ___ing a lot, ___ing hard
- "too busy to ___" = can`t ___ because too busy

#アート

Toy Ford Mustang

7月

8日

I was so impressed by the 1967 Ford Mustang that I saw in Ichinomiya, I decided to make a toy version. As usual, I used recycled components.

In the background you can see the other similar ones that I`ve made. I wrote about them here: http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/158699/one-mans-trash-14

If my kids want, they can drive this one like Steve McQueen in Bullitt. It`s okay.

Vocabulary:
- As usual/ever/always = いつもといっしょ
- Same as usual/same as ever/same as always = いつもといっしょ

#アート #趣味

Otto's blog

Mini Teaset Rack

Okinawan Orchid

A Spot of Gifu Sightseeing

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

Money Box

Why Did the Teacher Cross the Road?

Ununique

2016 Nitten Art Exhibition

Merry Christmas

Toy Ford Mustang

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